[0001] The present invention relates to a method for utilizing organic domestic waste and
other types of substantially organic waste, by which method the waste is divided into
a fraction, from which not biologically decomposable material has been removed, and
a residual fraction with a small content of biologically decomposable material. The
invention also relates to a plant for carrying out the method.
[0002] In the major part of the industrialized world, efforts are being made to utilize
the content of organic material in domestic waste. The aim is to use the energy and
fertilizer content in the organic part of the waste.
[0003] In Denmark, it is for instance the declared intent of the Agency for the Environment
by source separation in the households to remove a substantial part of the organic
waste from the remaining waste flow and then subsequently to biogasify or compost
this organic part.
[0004] The source separated waste is often collected in plastic or paper bags or sacks.
These bags or sacks constitute a not biologically decomposable alien substance in
the waste just as does the bigger or smaller amount of material which has been erroneously
sorted, something which can hardly be avoided in connection with the source separated
waste. This material may for instance be cans, bottles, and aluminium foil.
[0005] In addition to the source separated domestic waste similar waste fractions may be
collected from super markets and factories producing foodstuff. The sum of these organic
materials is in the following termed "biowaste".
[0006] When utilizing this biowaste, a number of problems of mechanical nature arises on
account of plastic content, wrapping and other impurities. Furthermore, hygienic problems
are encountered in connection with pre-treatment of the waste prior to biogasification
or composting on account of bacteria, endotoxins and mould spurs. The hygienic problems
are also encountered during the maintenance of the devices carrying out the pre-treatment.
[0007] Pre-treatment of the waste takes place according to the known technique either by
a mechanical sorting or by a pulping of the whole amount of biowaste. Both methods
suffer from deficiencies and only partially solve the problems. By a mechanical sorting
in a sorting drum or roller sieve, a substantial amount of the undesired parts is
removed, but at the same time also quite an amount of the organic material is removed.
Even with a fine-meshed sieve there will still be a few smaller plastic pieces left
in the biowaste after the sieving. Sieving does not solve hygienic problems.
[0008] Another solution is to pulp the biowaste in its entirety, following which floating
substances and sedimentation substances are separated therefrom. By this separation
also a part of the material which it is desired to biogasify is removed, and simultaneously
a large quantity of a waste fraction is obtained, which is difficult to handle, which
is wet and damaging from a hygienic point of view. Residues of plastic constitute
a particular risk, if they are allowed to remain in the liquid during pulping or biogasification,
as plasticizers and the like may be extracted.
[0009] DK 130 720 A1 describes how not sorted waste may be compacted into blocks which may
be stabilized by addition of for instance cement, which makes it possible to use them
as building stones in various construction works. During the compacting, which requires
a certain moistening of the waste, a smaller amount of liquid with a certain organic
content is obtained, said liquid being also stabilizable and possibly dryable and
being according to the publication usable for fertilizing purposes. The publication
does not mention source separated waste and the compacting apparatus described is
not suited for treatment of such waste.
[0010] The object of the invention is to provide a method which solves the problems in the
known methods and in such a manner that two waste fractions are obtained which, without
hygienic or mechanical problems, may be transferred to biological decomposition and
incineration, respectively.
[0011] The method according to the invention is characterized by the subject matter of the
characterizing clause of claim 1.
[0012] The invention resides in the surprising observation that from commonly available
source sorted domestic waste a liquid fraction may in practice be pressed out in an
amount so considerable that it contains the major part of the plant nutrients P, K,
N and the biogasifiable part of the waste, whereas the residual fraction will be quite
dry and therefore suitable for energy utilization in waste incineration. By combining
the pressing with a pasteurization which is made at the shredding or the compacting,
a softening of plant parts in the waste takes place, whereby the liquid fraction gained
by the compacting is increased.
[0013] The liquid fraction obtained by the method according to the invention is in particular
usable as a subsidy in biogas plants decomposing animal manure. The liquid fraction
is sanitized and therefore unproblematic to use in agricultural plants, and it contains
the major part of the plant nutrients from the biowaste.
[0014] The heating to a temperature for sanitation is according to the invention preferably
carried out prior to the pressing and compacting, whereby the plant used for the compacting
can be serviced without any health risk for the personnel.
[0015] According to the invention the heating to pasteurization temperature is made by introducing
steam during the mixing of the waste.
[0016] It is preferred according to the invention that the liquid biomass, until introduction
into a biogas plant, is stored and transported at a temperature above approx. 65°C.
Due to the hot storage of the biomass, biological activity is avoided therein during
storage and transport, and the heat is utilized when received in the biogas plant,
where normally a certain heating of the biomass is required prior to feeding to the
reactor.
[0017] The pre-treatment of the biowaste may advantageously take place in a waste incineration
plant, in which domestic waste is normally received and in which steam is normally
available at a low price and in a sufficient amount.
[0018] Moreover, the invention relates to a plant for carrying out the method according
to the invention. The plant comprises means for separating the waste into a fraction,
from which not biologically decomposable material has been removed, and into a residual
fraction. The plant according to the invention is characterized by the subject matter
of the characterizing clause of claim 7.
[0019] According to the invention, the plant is designed in such manner that the feed box
is provided with at least one helical conveyor at the bottom of the box, said helical
conveyor having an opposite pitch at its two ends, and the helical conveyor is provided
with drive means for joining mixed material at the transition between the opposite
pitches of the helical conveyor. In this embodiment of the mixing means the waste
will shoot up like molehills in the middle of the teed box and will be easy to convey,
the entire amount of waste passing within a period the centre area, where it is subjected
to a supplementary treatment.
[0020] It is preferred according to the invention that a supply of steam is provided in
the area at said transition. The combination of the joining of the waste in the transition
area and the steam supply ensures an even and complete heating of the waste and consequently
a reliable sanitizing.
[0021] Moreover, the plant comprises according to the invention a helical conveyor between
said area and the pressing device, said helical conveyor being adapted, in one operating
position, to shred and mix the waste, and in a second operating position, to convey
the waste to the pressing device. In the first operating position, the helical conveyor,
which is provided with palette knives mounted in the bottom part thereof, takes care
of the shredding.
[0022] According to the invention the pressing device is a pressing worm in a pressing basket
with counterpressure conus or nozzle and is provided with means for collecting the
pressed off, completely liquid or semi-liquid material and for transferring this material
to an insulated and possibly heated intermediate storage tank.
[0023] The invention will now be described in the following with reference to the drawing
which shows a principal sketch of a plant for utilization of organic waste by separating
it into two fractions.
[0024] The plant shown in the drawing for utilization of organic domestic waste comprises
a feed box 1, in which the waste is received. The waste to be treated is in particular
the organic part of normal domestic waste which has been collected in plastic or paper
bags and which often have a certain content of erroneously sorted material like for
instance cans, bottles or aluminium foil. The object of the plant is to divide the
waste in two fractions, viz, a first liquid or semi-liquid fraction, which by great
approximation has been freed from constituents which are not suited for biological
decomposition, and a residual fraction which is suitable for decomposition in a normal
waste incineration plant. The separation is performed by compacting of the waste under
high pressure, whereby a partially liquid phase is removed which contains the biologically
decomposable constituents, and a compacting rest which is quite dry and therefore
suitable for energy utilization in an incineration plant. The compacting residue contains
plastic and wrapping which have been used by the collection of the waste and the combustible
articles, which due to a sorting error have reached the biological part of the domestic
waste. Prior to the compacting, the waste is subjected to a shredding and mixing,
and according to the preferred embodiment, the waste is heated in portions during
this process to a temperature so high that the subsequent treatment does not give
any inconvenience from a hygienic point of view. The heating step should take place
before the compacting, the yield of the compacting being thereby increased. A pasteurization
and sanitizing of the waste in portions is, however, not a prerequisite for the carrying
out of the method. It will also be possible, for instance in a step between the feed
box and the press worm to insert a continuously operating pasteurization device which
takes care of the desired pasteurization of the waste during the transfer from the
feed box to the press worm. The continuous course of the process offers certain advantages,
but entails certain difficulties in connection with the maintenance of the equipment
in the feed box.
[0025] The treatment described is not only suitable for source sorted domestic waste, but
also for biological waste fractions from super markets or industries producing foodstuff.
On account of the pasteurization taking place upon receipt of the waste, a very unpleasant
waste fraction derived from treatment of waste water may also be treated. This material
is called grate goods and is sorted out on the grates in the inlet constructions in
purification plants. The material consists of faeces, cotton buds, condoms and other
items flushed into the waste discharge system. Also this material can be divided into
a liquid fraction which may be biogasified, and a comparatively dry fraction which
may be incinerated.
[0026] The feed box 2 is provided with lids 2 and a sucking out 3 connected with a scrubber
4, the sucked out air being cleaned before being led out into the surroundings. The
feed box 1 is at the bottom provided with a double helical conveyor 5 which at one
end is wound counter-clockwise and at the other end is wound clockwise. It is rotated
in such a manner that the material which has been unloaded into the feed box 1 is
conveyed towards the middle of the box, where it is pressed up in a kind of molehill
6. Steam is supplied below this molehill through nozzle tubes and nozzles 8. The steam
condenses in the material, which is mixed by means of the helical conveyors 5 until
a sanitizing of the content of the feed box is obtained, for instance thereby that
the content during a period has reached a temperature of more than 65°C.
[0027] Above the double helical conveyor 5, but immersed in the molehill, a worm conveyor
9 conveys the material to the press 10. The worm conveyor has two operating positions,
viz a first one, in which the worm, which is at the bottom provided with cutting means
designed as a palette worm, runs backwards, thereby cutting or shredding the material
during the mixing. A part 11 of the tube surrounding the worm is displaceable such
that the compacted material may get in contact with the worm in the first operating
position. After the pasteurization, the worm conveyor is readjusted to the second
operating condition, in which the displaceable tube part 11 is displaced downwards
to surround the worm, following which the direction of rotation is changed such that
the material in the feed box is conveyed to the press 10.
[0028] The press 10 comprises a press worm and a press basket 12 with counter-pressure conus
or with contracted nozzle 13. In the press a liquid fraction is pressed off, said
fraction being by means of a pump 14 transferred to an intermediate storage tank 15,
in which it is stored at a temperature of above 65°C, which prevents the occurrence
of bacteriological activity. A pump 16 may convey the material for further treatment,
for instance in a biogas plant.
[0029] Moreover, a press residue is delivered from the press, said residue being collected
in a transport box 14 and later transferred for incineration. The steam for the pasteurization
is delivered from a steam generator 18. To minimize odour nuisances from the discharge
air from the scrubber 4, the discharge from the scrubber may be delivered as combustion
air for the steam generator, whereas condensate from the scrubber 4 is transferred
to the feed box 1.
[0030] Feed water for the steam generator is treated with phosphates and oxygen-removing
agents which can be accepted in the treated waste, such that boiler water discharge
may be taken to the waste in the feed box 1.
[0031] Pilot tests with compacting of source sorted domestic waste have shown that it is
possible in the liquid traction to recover the major part of the plant nutrients P,
K, N present in the waste as well as the biogasifiable part of the waste, which according
to the tests indicates that 80-90% of the bio-decomposable part of the waste is transferred
to the liquid fraction. The invention therefore provides an effective method for utilization
of the energy content of biowaste and for attainment of a decomposition residue from
the bio-decomposition, which decomposition residue may advantageously be used for
fertilization. On account of the effective separation of the waste in a liquid and
a solid fraction, a possible extraction of mollifiers is minimized, as well as other
substances, which are difficult to biodecompose, from the waste to the liquid fraction.
1. A method for utilizing organic domestic waste and other types of substantially organic
waste, by which method the waste is divided into a fraction, from which not biologically
decomposable material has been removed, and a residual fraction with a small content
of biologically decomposable material,
characterized in that the waste is shredded and mixed, that the shredded and mixed waste is subjected
to a pressing for driving off the liquid biomass, the waste being during at least
one of these steps heated to a temperature of pasteurization, and that the liquid
biomass is subjected to a biological decomposition and the press residue removed for
incineration.
2. A method according to claim 1,
characterized in that the liquid fraction is used as a subsidy in connection with biogasification
of residues in biogas plants based on liquid manure from domestic animals.
3. A method according to claim 1 or 2,
characterized in that the heating to the pasteurization temperature level takes places prior to
the pressing.
4. A method according to claim 3,
characterized in that the heating is carried out in portions and in connection with shredding and
mixing of the waste.
5. A method according to claim 3 or 4,
characterized in that the heating to pasteurization temperature is carried out by introduction
of steam into the waste during the mixing.
6. A method according to any of the claims 1-5,
characterized in that the liquid biomass, until introduction into a biogas plant, is stored and
transported at a temperature above approx. 65°C.
7. A plant for utilization of organic waste by use of the method according to claim 1,
which plant comprises means for separating the waste into a fraction, from which not
biologically decomposable material has been removed, and into a residual fraction,
characterized in being provided with a feed box with means for supplying the waste delivered thereto
to a shredding and mixing means adapted to deliver the mixed, shredded waste to a
pressing device with a pressing basket or nozzle, from which a liquid fraction is
separated and conveyed to a subsequent biogasification, whereas a solid press residue
is collected for subsequent incineration.
8. A plant according to claim 7,
characterized in that the feed box is provided with at least one helical conveyor at the bottom
of the box, said helical conveyor having an opposite pitch at its two ends, and in
that the helical conveyor is provided with drive means for joining mixed material
at the transition between the opposite pitches of the helical conveyor.
9. A plant according to claim 8,
characterized by a supply of steam in the area at said transition.
10. A plant according to claim 7 or 8,
characterized by a helical conveyor between said area and the pressing device, said helical conveyor
being adapted, in one operating position, to ream and mix the waste, and in a second
operating position, to convey the waste to the pressing device.
11. A plant according to any of the claims 7-10,
characterized in that the pressing device is a pressing worm in a pressing basket with counter-pressure
conus or nozzle and being provided with means for collecting the pressed off, completely
liquid or semi-liquid material and for transferring this material to an insulated
and possibly heated intermediate storage tank.